Control means for a steam and spray iron



Nov. 23, 1965 e. F. CARABET ETAL 3,218,742

CONTROL MEANS FOR A STEAM AND SPRAY IRON 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept.17, 1964 int Nov. 2 1965 G. F. CARABET ETAL 3,218,742

CONTROL MEANS FOR A STEAM AND SPRAY IRON Filed Sept. 17, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,218,742 CONTROL MEANS FOR A STEAMAND SPRAY IRON George F. Carabet and Robert F. Dyer, North Canton,

Ohio, assignors to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporationof Ohio Filed Sept. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 397,170 14 Claims. (Cl. 38-77)The present invention relates to an improvement in a steam iron of theflash boiler type having a manually actuable spray pump incorporatedtherein. The improvement is embodied in a single control member forselectively operating both the spray pump and the valve rod for theflash boiler.

It is a principal object of our invention to greatly simplify themanufacture and operation of a steam-spray iron by providing a singlecontrol member for selectively operating both a spray pump and a valverod to a flash boiler.

It is antoher object of our invention to provide a steamspray iron witha single control member which will operate the spray pump whether thevalve rod to the flash boiler is in an open or closed position.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a steam-spray ironwith a single control member which will operate the spray pump only whenthe valve rod to the flash boiler is open.

It is also an object of our invention to provide a steamspray iron witha single control member which will operate the spray pump only when thevalve rod to the flash boiler is closed.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a steam iron with asliding control member for the flash boiler valve rod wherein thecontrol member presents a variable cam surface to the valve rod to biasit closed.

It is another object of our invention to mount a single control memberfor a steam-spray iron on the iron subassembly.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following description wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of an iron embodying the present inventionwith parts in section for clarity.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing the single control member used inFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view showing the single control member in aforward position from that of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional View showing a single control member which canoperate the spray pump only when the flash boiler valve rod is closed.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view showing a single control member which canoperate the spray pump whether the flash boiler valve rod is open orclosed.

FIGURE 6 is a view taken on the line 66 of FIG- URE 3.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view showing the single control member of thisinvention mounted to a bracket on the iron subassembly.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view showing the mounting bracket of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGURE 10 is a top view of the single control member of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of the single control member of FIGURES9 and 10 with portions in section for clarity.

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view of the top of the valve rod for use withthe control member of FIGURES 9, 10 and 11.

3,218,742 Patented Nov. 23, 1965 FIGURE 13 is a bottom view of thecontrol member of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 15 is a perspective view of the rear portion of the spring memberused on the control member of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawing, an iron embodying the present invention isindicated generally by reference numeral 1. The iron is of the typewhich may be selectively used as a dry iron or as a steam iron. Whenused as a steam iron the steam is generated by causing water to dripfrom a reservoir into a flash boiler where it is instantaneouslyconverted into steam. In this regard, the iron 1 has a soleplatesubassembly 2 which includes steam generating and distributing means,and is of the type disclosed in United States Patent 2,668,378 issuedFebruary 9, 1954, to Vance. The iron 1 further includes a handle andcover subassembly comprising handle 3 and cover member 4 which aresecured together by screws in a manner described in copendingapplication No. 397,173, filed September 17, 1964, and assigned to thesame assignee as the present invention. Mounted on the soleplate 2beneath cover member 4 is another subassembly which includes a waterreservoir 5 having a valve body 6 secured to its bottom to provide apassage to flash boiler 7, and a one-piece casting 9 secured to the topof reservoir 5. The one-piece casting 9 has water dispensing controlsmounted thereon in the manner disclosed in the aforesaid copendingapplication. It is to be especially noted that the iron just describedincludes only three subassemblies. These subassemblies are: (1) asoleplate subassembly; (2) a handle and cover member subassembly; and(3) a water storing and dispensing subassembly. These threesubassemblies are rigidly integrated into a unitary whole by only asingle bolt as disclosed in the aforesaid copending application. Thus,the iron embodying our invention advantageously comprises three highlysimplified subassemblies which are united by a single joining means.This greatly simpli V fies the manufacture, assembly and repair of theiron because it is not necessary to work on the entire bulky iron to addsmall parts in the final manufacturing stages or when making repairs.The operation of such an iron is also greatly simplified when itembodies our present invention.

The control mechanisms comprising part of the water storing anddistributing subassembly include a valve rod 8 for selectively openingor closing the passage in valve body 6, and a spray pump of thesuction-pressure type for spraying water forwardly of the iron. Theupper portion of the flash boiler valve rod 8 has projections 18 formedthereon and the top of coil spring 19 acts thereagainst to bias valverod 8 upward. A through passageway 10 is formed in one-piece casting 9and leads from water reservoir 5, past ball check 11 to pump cylinder12. Pump cylinder 12 receives coil spring 13 and pump piston 14. Ooilspring 13 is secured to the bottom of piston 14 and normally biases thepiston upward. An exit passageway 15 leads from pump cylinder 12 to aspray head assembly 16. Manual reciprocation of pump piston 14 causeswater to be drawn from reservoir 5 to pump cylinder 12 and then outthrough spray head assembly 16. A through opening 17 leads from theexterior of casting 9 to reservoir 5 for filling the reservoir withwater.

As shown, the front portion of handle 3 is hollow to fit over casting 9and the structure assembled thereon. The top undersurface of the hollowportion of handle 3 has laterally extending arcuate recesses 20 and 21formed therein and a rectangular opening 22 is formed in the handle tothe rear of recesses 20 and 21. The rectangular opening 22 is formedsubstantially centrally of the top of the hollow portion of handle 3 sothat opening 22 is forward of rear wall 23 of the hollow portion and athin portion 24 remains projecting over the hollow portion of handle 3at the top of rear wall 23. Extending upwardly through opening 22 inhandle 3 is a projection 29 which is formed on the control member 25 ofFIGURE 2. As best seen in FIGURE 2, control member 25 comprises asubstantially flat portion having projection 29 extending upwardlytherefrom at its rear and a substantially convex portion 26 extendingupwardly therefrom at its front. The sidewalls of projection 29 arespaced inwardly from the sides of the substantially flatportion ofcontrol member 25 to form ledges, only one of which is shown at 27 inFIGURE 2 and the other at 28 in FIG- URE 6. The rear base of projection29 on control member 25 is slotted as at 30 in FIGURE 2. A groove 31 isformed in the bottom of control member 25 as best shown in FIGURES 13and 14. The groove 31 extends from the front of control member 25 to apoint substantially centrally beneath projection 29. A hollow portion 32extends through the bottom of button 25 into projection 29.

A leaf spring member 33 has a reversely bent portion as shown in FIGURE15 and a tang 34 is bent downwardly from the terminating part 37 of thereversely bent portion. The forward portion of leaf spring 33 curvesdownwardly as at and terminates at its front end in another more sharplycurved portion 36. The leaf spring 33 is secured to the bottom ofcontrol member 25 by inserting the rear end 38 of control member 25 inFIG- URE 2 into the opening formed by the reversely bent portion of leafspring 33 in FIGURE 15. Tang 34 moves into slot 30 in control member 25and snaps down in front of rear end 38. The assembly is shown inFIGURE 1. The leaf spring 33 runs along the bottom of control member 25and spans opening 32 so that the side edges of spring 33 rest againstshoulders 39 and 40 in FIGURE 13. The spring 33 then enters groove 31 asshown in FIG- URES 1 and 14 to prevent sideways displacement.

As shown in FIGURE 1, projection 29 on control member 25 extendsupwardly through opening 22 in handle 3 and thin cover portion 24 on thehandle is received in slot 30 on control member 25. In assembling theiron the control member 25 is placed in position in handle 3 before thehandle is positioned over casing 9. In FIG- URE 1, control member 25 isin its rearmost position with convex portion 26 received in arcuaterecess 20. Sharply curvedportion 36 is in contact with the top of flashboiler valve rod 8. In this positon the downward force exerted by leafspring 33 is stronger than the upward force exterted by coil spring 19and valve rod 8 has its bottom end securely seated in the opening invalve body 6 to prevent flow of water from reservoir 5 to flash boiler7. Thus, with the control member 25 in a rear position as shown inFIGURE 1. The iron 3 is operating as a dry iron. Also, cover portion 24prevents control member 25 from being depressed and pump piston 14cannot be actuated. This prevents the operator from unintentionallyapplying water to a fabric which is supposed to be ironed dry. Coverportion 24 also firmly supports control member 25 in its position inopening 22.

FIGURE 3 shows control member 25 in a forward position with convexportion 26 received in arcuate recess 21. The top of pump piston 14serves as a support for control member 25 to keep it from falling downinto the hollow portion of handle 3. The coil spring 13 on pump piston14 applies a small upward force against control member 25 through pumppiston 14.

As shown in FIGURE 6, ledge 28 and ledge 27 (FIG- URE 2) abut the bottomsides adjacent opening 22 in handle 3 to prevent upward displacement ofcontrol member 25. In the forward position of the control member asshown in FIGURE 3, convex portion 26 is received in arcuate recess 21and the sharply curved portion 36 at the front end of leaf spring 33 isfree from the top of valve rod 8 so that leaf spring 33 is applying nodownward force on valve rod 8. Thus, coil spring 19 applies an upwardforce on valve rod 8 to move the bottom of valve rod 8 free of itsseated position in valve body 6 and the passage from reservoir 5 toflash boiler 7 is open. In its upper position the top of valve rod 8still engages the bottom of control member 25 and aids the pump pistonin supporting the control member. With the control member 25 in aforward position as shown in FIGURE 3, iron 1 is operating as a steamiron. It is to be noted in FIGURE 3 that the rear base portion ofprojection 29 on control member 25 is within the outline of opening 22.This permits the operator to alternately depress and release controlmember 25 which pivots about convex portion 26 .in recess 21. Thealternate depression and release of control member 25 reciprocates pumppiston 14 to spray water from reservoir 5 through spray head assembly 16to the front of the iron. Thus, with control member 25 in the forwardposition of FIGURE 3 iron 1 is operating as a steam iron and can also beoperated as a spray iron.

It will be noted that when control member 25 is moved backward from theposition of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 1 leaf spring 33 willbend upward and meet the top of valve rod 8 at a varying angle as thecontrol member moves backward. By providing for a variable angle ofcontact a greater part of the force exerted on valve rod 8 by leafspring 33 is in a downward direction. Leaf spring 33 and coil spring 19are designed so that the vertically downward component of force appliedto valve rod 8 by leaf spring 33 will be greater than the upward forceapplied to valve rod 8 by coil spring 19. This makes movement of controlmember to the rear position very easy when changing from steam to dryironing by closing valve rod 8. While the leaf spring 33 is veryadvantageous it is not absolutely necessary and it could be omitted byforming a cam surface integrally with the front bottom of control member25. With a constant angle of contact a great deal of the force appliedto the top of valve rod 8 when moving control member 25 backward willact in a substantially horizontal direction and greater force isnecessary to move the control member 25 in order that the verticalcomponent of force being applied against the top of valve rod 8 will begreat enough to move valve rod 8 downward. Thus, while an integrallyformed cam surface would be operative, our device which provides avariable cam angle is much better.

FIGURE 5 shows the same control member as previously described withreference to FIGURES 1-3, 6 and 13-15, and with cover portion 24 on thehandle of FIG- URE 1 removed. Thus, the control member of FIGURE 5 maybe depressed in either its forward or backward position and the spraypump may be operated whether the flash boiler valve rod is open orclosed.

FIGURE 4 shows the same control member as previously described withreference to FIGURES 1-3, 6 and l3-15, and with cover portion 24 on thehandle of FIG- URE 1 removed. Thus, the control member of FIGURE 4 maybe depressed in its backward position and the spray pump operated whenthe flash boiler valve rod is closed. In addition, a slot 41 is formedin the front base of projection 29 on control member 25 and a frontcover portion 42 is provided at the forward end of opening 22. When thecontrol member of FIGURE 4 is moved forward front cover portion 42 isreceived in slot 41 and depression of control member 25 is prevented.Thus, the pump cannot be operated when the flash boiler valve rod isopen.

FIGURES 7 and 8 show a steel support member 43 having a horizontalmounting portion 44, upstanding portion 45 and control member mountingportion 46. Portion 44 is secured to the casing 9 by a screw 47 or inany other suitable manner. As shown, the control member mounting portion46 of support 43 is formed to the same contour as the top underside ofthe hollow portion of the handle in FIGURE 1. The operation of thedevice in FIGURE 7 is the same as that described with reference toFIGURE 1 and the variations described with reference to FIGURES 4 and 5may also be made to the structure of FIGURE 7. In addition, support 43may be made of spring steel and opening 48 may be short enough so thatthe rear edge will always be within slot 30 in control member 25 whetherthe control member 25 is in a forward or backward position. The controlmember 25 would then always have a firm position on support 43 andinstead of pivoting the control member 25 about convex portion 26 thecontrol member mounting portion 46 of support 43 would bend at recessforming portion 50 to actuate the pump piston. With support 43 thecontrol member 25 may be mounted directly to the water storing anddistributing sub-assembly.

Referring now to FIGURES 9-12 there is shown another embodiment of ourinvention. A control member 51 has a projection 52 thereon and the rearbase of the projection is slotted as at 53. As shown in FIGURE 9, thebottom of control member 51 is substantially flat and a rectangularprojection 54 extends downwardly from a front corner thereof. One sideof control member 51 has an upstanding wall 55 formed integrallytherewith. A spring mounting opening enters the control member 51 at thetop of rectangular projection 54 as at 56 and exits through the side ofprojection 54 as at 57. A control member mounting structure 58 hassubstantially flat top portions 59 and 60 separated by space 61 andjoined at one side by a downwardly extending sidewall 62. Top portion 60has a downwardly projecting frontwall 63 and a side projection 64. Theunderside of front portion 60 has laterally extending arcuate recesses65 and 66 formed therein. A coil spring 67 has an upstanding end portion68 terminating in a reverse bend as shown and a downwardly extending endportion 69 which is bent as shown in FIGURE 9. The coil portion of coilspring 67 is sized so as to be a tight fit in the opening formed inprojection 54 and this prevents the coil spring from twisting orwobbling when it is in place. To assemble the control button assemblycoil spring 67 is dropped into entrance opening 56. Downwardly extendingend 69 on coil spring 67 projects downwardly from exit 57 and upwardlyextending end 68 projects slightly above the top surface 70 of controlmember 51 as shown in FIG- URE 9. Mounting structure 58 is then movedsideways toward control member 51 and at least a part of top portion 59is received in slot 53. Top portion 60 on mounting structure 58 slidesover top surface 70 on con trol member 51 and the reversely bentterminus on upstanding end 68 of coil spring 67 is received in eitherarcuate recess 65 or 66. The inner surface of sidewall 62 on mountingstructure 58 abuts the side 71 of control member 51 and front wall 63overhangs the front edge of control member 51 and a portion ofprojection 54 as shown in FIGURE 9. With the control assembly soarranged the control member 51 can be moved forward and backward withrespect to mounting structure 58 and is frictionally retained in eitherposition by the presence of the reversely bent terminus on end 68 ofcoil spring 67 in either arcuate recess 65 or 66.

FIGURE 12 shows the top of the flash boiler valve rod 72 for use withthe control of figures 9-1l. The top of rod 72 is flattened and has aV-shaped groove 73 formed therein as shown. The control assembly isshown in position on an iron in FIGURE 9. Iron handle 74 has arectangular opening 75 formed therein and through which projection 52extends. The top periphery of top portion 59, the top surface of topportion 60 and the top of sidewall 62 on mounting structure 58 abut theunder-surface of handle 74 adjacent opening 75 to keep the controlassembly in place. As shown in FIGURE 9, the mounting structure 58 istrapped between the front and rear walls of the hollow portion in theforward part of handle 74 and cannot move forward or backward anyappreciable distance. Likewise, the mounting structure is trappedagainst sideways displacement by the sidewalls of the hollow portion inthe forward part of handle 74. As seen in FIGURE 9, forward and backwardmotion of control member 51 acts to close or open valve rod 72 throughcoil spring 67. The terminal part of downwardly extending end 69 on coilspring 67 engages the edge of rod 72 at the bottom of V-shaped groove73. Continued forward movement of control member 51 causes the coilspring 67 to twist thereby exerting a torsional force through end 69 onrod 72. As the control member 51 approaches its forward position asteadily increasing portion of the force being exerted on rod 72 by end69 is in a downward direction. The varying angle of the applied forcefinally overcomes the upward force of coil spring 76 and rod 72 is moveddownward to close the passage from the reservoir to the flash boiler.The operator may depress control member 51 by exerting a force onprojection 52 whereupon mounting structure 58 and control member 51 willpivot as a unit about a point near 77 in FIGURE 9 and in this mannerpump piston 78 may be reciprocated. The control of FIGURE 9 is operativeto actuate the pump piston whether the valve rod 72 is in an open orclosed position. However, those skilled in the art will readily be awarethat the variations of FIGURE 1 or 4 could be added to the control ofFIGURE 9 simply by forming additional slots at the base of projectionportion 52 and suitable cover portions as those at 24 and 42 in FIGURES1 and 4. Also, mounting structure 58 could be formed of steel as is thesupport 43 of FIGURE 8 and mounted to the iron sub-assembly.

It will be understood that when our novel control member is used in aniron without a spray pump the cover portion 24 in FIGURE 1 and the slot30 in the control member of FIGURE 2 would be related so as to beengaged in both the forward and backward positions of the controlmember. That is, cover portion 24 is always received in slot 30 to givefirm support to the control member in any position.

From the foregoing description it may be appreciated that we haveprovided a new and advantageous control arrangement for a steam-sprayiron. The operation of our improved iron, as well as the manufacture andassembly thereof, is much simplified over prior art devices. Our singlecontrol member performs the dual function of operating a spray pump anda flash boiler valve rod. The operator need not fumble around for aplurality of controls which perform only one function each. Theappearance of the iron handle incorporating our invention is muchimproved because there is only one control member in view as opposed toprior art devices having two or more control members projecting throughthe handle.

It will be appreciated that our control member, which applies a force ata constantly varying angle to the flash boiler valve rod, is animprovement in itself and can be used in steam-dry irons which do nothave a spray pump. Thus, the parts for both steam-spray and steamdryirons can be the same and it is unnecessary to manufacture and stockseparate control members for each type of iron.

The variations where operation of the spray pump is possible only withthe control member in a forward or backward position provides a firmsupporting arrangement for the control member and offers a variety ofchoices to users who do not wish to accidentally spray while dryironing, and to users who do not wish to unintentionally spray whilesteam ironing.

Mounting the control member on the iron sub-assembly provides an ironwherein all of the working parts are structurally integrated into acompact unitary assembly, and manufacture and assembly of the ironhandle is greatly simplified.

From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe present invention and its advantageous features represent asubstantial improvement over prior art devices.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described it is to be understood that these embodiments are onlyillustrative and are not to be taken in a limiting sense. The presentinvention includes all equivalent variations of the disclosedembodiments and is limited only by the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween a valve open and a valve close-d position, and a pump having amanually operable actuating means, the improvement comprising; a singlecontrol member movably mounted on said iron for selectively controllingthe position of said valve closure member and operating said pumpactuating means, and means on said iron for holding said control memberagainst operating said pump actuating means when said valve closuremember is in one of said positions.

2. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween a valve open and a valve closed position, and a pump having amanually operable actuating means, the improvement comprising; meansmounting a control member pivotally and slidably on said iron, saidcontrol member having means engaging said valve closure member to movesaid valve closure member to one of said positions upon sliding movementthereof, and said control member having means engaging said pumpactuating means upon pivotal movement thereof.

3. The improvement of claim 2 and further including cooperating stopmeans formed on said control member and said iron for holding saidcontrol member against pivotal movement when said valve closure memberis in one of said positions, said control member being free to pivotwhen said valve closure member is in the other of said positions.

4. In a steam iron having a handle with a hollow front portion, saidhollow portion having a top wall, said hollow portion receiving a flashboiler valve rod and an actuating member for a pump, means mounting saidvalve rod and said actuating member so that the tops thereof are spacedfrom said top wall to define a mounting space, said top wall having anopening therein, a control member slidably and pivotally mounted in saidmounting space and having a portion extending through said opening, saidcontrol member including means engaging with said valve rod and saidpump actuating member, said control member being slidable between aposition in which it closes said valve rod and a position in which saidvalve rod is opened, and means releasably retaining said control memberin each of said positions, said control member being pivotal in at leastone of said positions to operate said pump actuating member.

5. The iron of claim 4 wherein said control member is mounted on abracket which is secured to a subassembly of said iron. g

6. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween a valve open and a valve closed position, and spray means forapplying moisture from said reservoir forwardly of said iron onto afabric to be ironed, said spray means including a pump having a manuallyoperable actuating means, the improvement comprising; a single controlmember movably mounted on said iron for selectively controlling theposition of said valve closure member and operating said pump actuatingmeans, and means on said iron for holding said control member againstoperating said pump actuating means when said valve closure member is inone of said positions.

7. An iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween a valve open and a valve closed position, a pump having amanually operable actuating member, a control member movably mounted onsaid iron for selectively controlling the position of said valve closuremember and operating said pump actuating means, said control memberhaving contact means for engaging said valve closure member, saidcontact means providing an automatically continuously variable angle ofcontact with said valve closure member whereby the direction of theforce applied to said valve closure member through said contact means isautomatically continuously variable.

8. In an iron including a flash boiler, a subassembly structureincluding a water reservoir having water distributing means mountedthereon, said water distributing means including a valve communicatingwith said flash boiler and a valve closure member movable between avalve open and a valve closed position, said water distributing meansfurther including spray means for applying moisture from said reservoirforwardly of said iron onto a fabric to be ironed, said spray meansincluding a pump having manually operable actuating means, and a singlecontrol member movably mounted on said subassembly for selectivelycontrolling the position of said valve closure member and operating saidpump actuating means.

9. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween a valve open and a valve closed position, and spray means forapplying moisture from said reservoir forwardly of said iron onto afabric to be ironed, said spray means including a pump having a manuallyoperable actuating means, the improvement comprising; a single controlmember movably mounted on said iron for selectively controlling theposition of said valve closure member and operating said pump actuatingmeans.

10. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween valve open and valve closed positions, and a suction-pressuretype pump, said pump having manually operable actuating means, theimprovement comprising; mounting means mounting a single control memberon said iron for reciprocatory movement and for movement between firstand second locations, said control member having means engaging saidpump actuating means upon reciprocatory movement thereof to operate saidpump, and said control member having means engaging said valve closuremember upon movement thereof between said first and second locations toselectively set said valve closure member in either of said open andclosed positions.

11. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween a valve open and a valve closed position, resilient meansnormally biasing said valve closure member to one of said positions, andspray means for applying moisture from said reservoir forwardly of saidiron, said spray means including a pump having manually operableactuating means, the improvement comprising; a single control membermovably mounted on said iron for selectively controlling the position ofsaid valve closure member and operating said pump actuating means, saidcontrol member being movable between a first location in which saidresilient means biases said valve closure member to said one positionand a second location in which means on said control member engages saidvalve closure member to move said valve closure member to the other ofsaid positions, said control member being selectively operable in bothof said locations to operate said pump actuating means.

12. In an iron including a flash boiler, a water reservoir communicatingwith said flash boiler through a valve, a valve closure member movablebetween valve open and valve closed positions, resilient means normallybiasing said closure member to one of said positions, control meansmovably mounted on said iron for controlling the position of said valveclosure member, said control memher being movable between a firstlocation in which said resilient means biases said valve closure memberto said one position and a second location in which yieldable means onsaid control member engages said valve closure member to move said valveclosure member to the other of said positions, said yieldable meanscontacting said valve closure member at an automatically continuouslyvariable angle and the force applied to said valve closure memberthrough said yieldable means being automatically continuously varied ina direction tending to move said valve closure member to the other ofsaid positions with progressive movement of said control member fromsaid first location to said second location.

13. The iron of claim 12 wherein said control member is mounted forhorizontal sliding movement.

14. The iron of claim 13 wherein said yieldable means comprises a leafspring secured to said control member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,668,378 2/1954Vance 3877 2,741,044 4/1956 May Kemper 3877.0 2,810,218 10/1957 Hoecker3877.0 3,038,269 6/1962 Knapp 3877.0 3,041,756 7/1962 Foster 3877.0

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

9. IN AN IRON INCLUDING A FLASH BOILER, A WATER RESERVOIR COMMUNICATINGWITH SAID FLASH BOILER THROUGH A VALVE, A VALVE CLOSURE MEMBER MOVABLEBETWEEN A VALVE OPEN AND A VALVE CLOSED POSITION, AND SPRAY MEANS FORAPPLYING MOISTURE FROM SAID RESERVOIR FORWARDLY OF SAID IRON ONTO AFABRIC TO BE IRONED, SAID SPRAY MEANS INCLUDING A PUMP HAVING A MANUALLYOPERABLE ACTUATING MEANS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING; A SINGLE CONTROLMEMBER MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID IRON FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING THEPOSITION OF SAID VALVE CLOSURE MEMBER AND OPERATING SAID PUMP ACTUATINGMEANS.